Eight Little Words
by Captain Rika Kisuktai
Summary: Part of the 'What If...' challenge. What if the Doctor didn't regenerate during the Time War? What if Rose ran into the Eighth Doctor in that basement? History works around them, yet repeats.
1. Run

Alright, I admit it. I've succumbed to I've Lost My Profile Page's challenge to "borrow one of her stories. This comes from her "Senarios" chapter. This is senario...3? Yeah, I think it's three. Meh, my memory is terrible. Ah well.

Before we start, this is the first chapter/episode. Yes, I do realize that it's the episode Rose. And yes, I realize that the dialouge is different. It's supposed to be! It's a different Doctor, thus different dialouge!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Doctor Who. I don't own this idea. I don't even own the computer I'm typing this on!!

* * *

The spring sun started it's slow ascent above the small planet Earth. People started to wake and start their days. Another average start to another average day. Rose Tyler was no exception in her mind. Wake up, go to work, eat lunch with boyfriend, work some more, go home, sleep, then repeat the next day. That's how it's been since she left school until now.

She dazed throughout the day like a zombie; everything she did in the store was a routine now. She didn't even have to think about what she was doing. She barely heard the announcement saying that it was five minutes until the store closed. She grabbed her purse and followed fellow employees to the doors. She was almost out when the guard tapped her on the shoulder and held out a bag with a small amount of money in it. It was the Chief electrician's lottery money. She grabbed it and hurried to the lift, walking in and pressing the button to the basement.

Rose stepped out after a brief ride down, looking around the dimly lit hallway.

"Wilson?" she called for the elderly man, "Wilson, I've got the lottery money. Wilson?"

She walked over to his office door. Why anyone would put an office in the basement, she'd never know. She knocked on the heavy door, "Are you in there?" She placed a hand on her hip. "I can't hang about 'cause they're closing the shop. Wilson!"

She growled softly as she gave a little kick to the door. "Oh come on..."

There was a sudden clatter and Rose whipped around. She peered down the hallway, an uncomfortable feeling forming in the pit of her stoumach for some reason.

"Hello?" she called. Not hearing an answer she started walking down the hallway. _Maybe it's Wilson,_ she thought.

"Hello, Wilson? It's Rose. Hello?" she stopped in front of one of the doors. "W-Wilson?" she called through it. Still no answer. She hesitently pushed the door open, stepping into a darker hallway. She reached out and flicked a switch on the wall, and a line of lights flickered to life. The corridor was filled with unused shop dummies; their blank faces and empty eyes staring at her from all angles.

"Wilson?" Rose called again, still hoping that it was him down here. She slowly walked past the rows of mannequins.

_SLAM._

She turned around to see that the door she had come through had slammed shut. She swallowed.

"You're _kidding _me." she sighed/growled as she heard the lock click into place. Another clattering noise came from behind her. The uncomfortable feeling was slowly becoming a feeling similar to fear. Whoever was down here messing with her mind was really starting to freak her out, and she didn't like it. She wasn't scared very often, but a real tingle of fear ran up her spine as she slowly walked to the other end of the hallway. The sound of creaking plastic made her turn around. One of the mannequins was moving! It started taking slow steps towards her, almost moving like a robot. She cleared her throat.

"Ok. You got me. Very funny!" She said shakily, backing up from the dummy. It was obviously someone dressed up like a mannequin with a mask. What else could it be? One by one the others perked up and started following the first.

"Right, I've got the joke. Whose idea was this? Was it Derek's? Was it? Is this you Derek?" she looked around and noticed one of the dummies aproaching her from behind. She quickly changed direction, starting to back up against one of the walls. Her head was turning every which way, trying to watch all of the dummies at once. Her foot caught a stray cardboard box and she nearly fell. She picked her self up quickly.

Rose continued backing away from the dummies in growing fear and confusion. Why weren't they stopping? What did they want? Who were they? They weren't blinking or breathing, were they even human? She suddenly stopped, her back against the cold brick wall. The mannequins slowly advanced on her, raising their arms to kill her with a blow to her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut, muscles stiffened, ready for the blow to come.

Rose felt a hand grab hers and her head snapped around to find herself staring into sea green eyes.

"Run." the man holding her hand said. Before she could do anything else, he was pulling her alongside him as he ran. She could hear the mannequins running affer them, hollow footsteps echoing down the hallways. On and on, through corridors that Rose barely knew. But the man dragging her along seemed to know where he was going, so she simply went along. They ran through a doorway and Rose looked over her shoulder. They were getting closer! They were right on her heels as the strange man pulled her into a service lift. One of the dummies managed to get it's arms inbetween the doors as they were closing. The man grabbed the arm and gave it a great pull. After several tries, he succeded in "disarming" the mannequin. It's head squeaked as the was pressed against the closing doors. Rose finally regained her ability to speak and said the most intelligent thing she could think of.

"You...pulled his arm off."

The man turned around and smiled at her.

"Yes I did. Would you rather me let it in to kill us?" he asked as he tossed the arm to Rose, who jumped back as she caught it. She held it away from her body as she looked over the man. He looked like he had stepped out of the 1800s; he had on one of those long coats on over a dark red waistcoat. His wavy brown hair fell into curls as it settled onto his shoulders. She thought he seemed very handsome.

"So, who were they? Students? Was this a student thing?" Rose asked, clearing her throat to get her mind off how the man looked. The man smiled slightly, almost as if he was amused at the question.

"Now why would they be students?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Rose blinked and shrugged, still making sure that the plastic arm was well away from her body. The man waited calmly for an answer.

"Well...to get that many people dressed up and acting silly, they must be students." Even as the words came out of her mouth, she wasn't too sure if she believed what she was saying. The man chuckled.

"They weren't students,"

"Well, whoever they were, Wilson's going to be mad," she said, pulling the arm slightly closer to her body. The man looked a bit confused.

"Who's Wilson?"

"Chief electrician," she answered. "Why?"

"Wilson's dead. Poor chap..." he sighed as the doors to the lift opened and he stepped out. Rose followed him, unable to completely grasp what was happening at the moment.

"What? That's not funny; that's sick!" she shouted as she followed him through another doorway. He pulled her to the side.

"Mind your eyes." he said, ignoring her outbursts. He pulled something out of his pocket and pointed it at the controls to the lift. Rose yelped as sparks flew out of the controls. She started following him out of the corridor.

"I've had enough of this! Who are you then? Who's that lot down there? I _said_, WHO ARE THEY?" she half said, half shouted at the man's back.

"They're called Autons. Beings made of plastic, _living_ plastic. They're being controlled by a relay up on the roof, which would be a bit of a problem if I didn't have _this,_" he pulled a device out of his pocket that looked like a mutilated remote control. A mutilated remote control that was beeping. "I'm going up to the roof to blow it up."

He stopped at the door leading up to the roof.

"Would you care to join me...I'm sorry, what is your name?" he flashed a charming smile. Rose scoffed, waving the plastic arm at him.

"It's Rose, and you're INSANE if you think I'm gonna come with you. You're just a part of this whole joke to scare me out of my skin! What did you say your name was?" The man laughed.

"I'm the Doctor," he looked at the door and placed a hand on the handle. "You might want to think about leaving Rose. I can't really garentee that this is going to be a safe place to stand in a few minutes." he smiled as he opened the door and left. Rose stared at the door for a moment, holding the plastic arm in her hands. She turned and looked around. She was outside. How did that happen? She guesdsed that she wasn't paying attention.

She walked out into the dark night, mind adrift in thougts. Who was that? The Doctor? Doctor who? He _must've_ been a part of the joke. She woyuld have a talk to Wilson tomorrow about locking the doors more carefully...

Rose's thoughts were interrupted by a large and violent explosion from be hind her. She whriled around just in time to see fire erupt from the building she was in mere moments before. She shuddered, before turning and running the rest of the way home.

* * *

'**The whole of central London was been closed off as police investigate the fire...**"

Rose sat on the living room sofa in the flat she shared with her mother, not really listening to either the television or her mother talk to everyone she knew and tell them about "Rose's miraculous survival." She rolled her eyes as Mickey decided to show up and start fussing over her. Sure, he was her boyfriend, but she didn't need everyone to be all over her. She gently pushed him off of her as he started asking her questions.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," Rose replied. Mickey raised an eyebrow.

"What _was_ it though, what caused it?"

"I wasn't in the shop. I didn't see anything," she said. Well, it wasn't really a lie; she didn't see what caused the explosion. She knew _who_ caused it. It was psycho calling himself a doctor with a bomb, but she didn't _see_ it. Her mother, Jackie, walked in the room one hand over the reciever of the phone in her other hand.

"It's Debbie on the end, knows a man on the 'Mirror,' 500 quid for an interview!"

"Really? Give it here," Rose took the phone and hung up. Jackie folded her arms and frowned.

"Well you've got to find some way of finding money. Your job's kaput, and I'm not bailing you out again," the phone rang and she snatched it up. "Bev! She's alive!" she walked out of the room talking. Rose rubbed her temple, a small headache starting to pound away at her forehead. She went to take a sip of her tea when Mickey laughed and took the cup from her.

"Tea? No no no, you need something stronger. You've had genuine shock and trauma," he grabbed her hand and stood up, "Come on, we're going to the pub. You and me, my treat." Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a match on?" Mickey's eyebrows flew up.

"No! I'm just thinking about you!"

"There _is_ a match on." she stated plainly. Mickey hung his head in an admittance of defeat.

"Yeah. If we leave now we can catch the last five minutes,"

"Go on. I'm tired," Rose gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She stopped him as he was halfway out the door.

"Can you throw that away for me?" She pointed to the plastic arm laying on the wooden chair. He laughed and picked it up.

"Bye!" he said in a high voice, waving the plastic arm. Then he put it to his neck and pretended to choke. Rose giggled as he left the flat.

Micky tossed it into a garbage bin as he hurried to the local pub. He noticed niether the scuffling sound coming from the bin nor the blue police box innocently tucked away in an alleyway. Why would he? It was just a Police Public Call Box...


	2. I'm the Doctor

Alright! Here's the second chapter! I'm loving this story right now. I've no clue how the middle of this "Series 1 Redo!" is going to turn out, but I know how the end is going to go! Just hang in there!

I do not own Doctor Who. RAWR.

* * *

The loud repitition of the alarm clock's wake up screech awoke Rose, who's arm flopped about and turned it off out of instinct. She sat up and rubbed her head, then dived back under the covers when her sleep addled brain recalled that she no longer had a job. After a few more moments, Jackie barged in her room and dragged her daughter out of her neon pink bed. Rose pulled on her clothes and brushed her hair before wandering into the kitchen. She rolled her eyes as her mother began to go on and on about various jobs, eventually turning back to the idea of gathering compensation.

She was slightly startled at a small noise near the front door, before recognizing the sound as the cat flap. She gave a frustrated sigh while stading up and going to the door.

"I told you to nail the cat flap down! We're going to get strays!" she scolded her mother, who was currently in her room putting on her make up. She wrinkled her nose in confusion.

"I did that weeks back!" Rose rolled her eyes.

"No, you thought about it," she called back as she dropped to her knees to inspect the flap. Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw the bent nails littering the floor around the door. She jumped back when the flap moved suddenly. She quickly poked it, before she slowly lifted it. Her mouth dropped open as sea green eyes stared back at her in slight confusion. She jumped up and threw the door open as the man from the night before stood up with a bewildered look on his face.

"What are _you _doing here?" he asked. Rose blinked owlishly at him.

"I live here," she answered, amazed that he was standing in front of her.

"Well what'd you do that for?" he asked, pointing to the cat flap. Rose blinked again, somewhat at a loss for words.

"Because...I do!"

"Are you made of plastic?" he asked suddenly, poking her forehead. She slapped his hand away and he gave her a smile. "Nope. Flesh and bone. Nevermind my dear, I'll be on my way now." He turned to leave, but Rose grabbed him by the arm and dragged him inside.

"Oh no you don't! You're staying until I get some answers!"

"Who is it sweetheart?" Jackie called from her room.

"It's someone from about last night. Give us, I dunno, ten minutes." Rose said as she passed her mother's doorway.

"She deserves compensation!" Jackie shouted through her door at the man. He walked over to her door and whistled.

"We are talking millions." he said, sarcasim in his voice as he looking around at the small flat. Jackie cleared her throat and stood up, pulling her night gown tightly closed and giving the man a good look over.

"I'm in my dressing gown," she said. The man looked at her.

"Why yes, so you are,"

"There's a strange man in my bedroom," she continued, taking a step closer to him. The man nodded.

"Yes there is," he said, raising an eyebrow as Jackie continued to advance upon him.

"Anything could happen." she whispered. A look of horror and faint amusement passed over his face.

"With all due respect madam, I don't think so," he leaned close to her ear. "Besides, I'm too old for you." he whispered before he left the room. Jackie sniffed and sat back down on her bed, picking up a brush she began to fix her hair. Rose led the man (whose name she couldn't remember for the life of her) into her living room. She moved the scattered magazines around in a weak attempt to make the room look the smallest bit neat.

"Don't mind the mess. You want a coffee?" she asked him as he looked around the small room. He gave her a smile and nodded.

"Just milk," he said as Rose went to prepare the coffee. He wandered around the room, observing every little thing while Rose started talking to him from the kitchen.

"I should go to the police. Seriously, I..."

"That won't last," he said to himself as he flipped open a magazine to a random gossip page. "He's gay and she's an alien."

"I'm not playing. Even if it was a joke that went wrong, you still blew the shop up..." Rose continued, waiting for the coffee to heat up. The man picked up a book and flipped through the pages, frowning.

"Oh, such a sad ending..."

"The news said they found a body..." Rose said, unaware that the man was now ignoring her intenionally. He walked over to the television and picked up the envelope resting on it's top.

"'Rose Tyler,'" he read and smiled. "That's a nice name..."

He caught sight of his relection in a nearby mirror and frowned as he noticed rings under his eyes. "I need to get some rest..." he murmered to himself.

"I want you to explain everything to them..." Rose was still talking, now adding milk to the man's coffee. There was a small rustling noise behind the couch in the living room. The man's eyebrows furrowed as he turned and looked at it. He hopped over the small coffee table sitting in the middle of the room to peer behind the couch.

"Just out of curiosity, do you have a cat?" he asked Rose, still in the other room.

"No. We used to, but then we kept getting strays off the estate..." Rose's eyebrows raised as she heard a stragled yelp from the living room. She gathered the two cups and went to see what was going on. She gave a sigh and rolled her eyes as she saw the man writhing around on the couch with the plastic hand around his throat.

"I swear, give a man a plastic hand," she sighed as she set the cups of coffee down on the small glass table in the room, and looked at the man. He was a good actor, she gave him that. His face was beginning to turn red. She put her hands on her hips.

"What was your name? I know you told me last night, but I can't remember. Was it Doctor something?"

The man threw the plastic arm off of him, and it seemed to hover in the air. Rose's eyes widened as the arm turned and flew at her, attatching itself to her face. She let out a suprized yelp and tried to pry it off, but it wouldn't budge. The man watched in slight amusement at her weak attempts to remove the arm, before he realized that she couldn't go as long without air as he could. He jumped up and grabbed the plastic arm, trying to pull it away from her face. The arm wouldn't move an inch. It was firmly attatched to her face. His attempt to pull it off only resulted in them falling backwards onto the glass table, which broke and shattered under their combined weight.

Meanwhile, Jackie was attacking her hair with a hair-dryer, so she didn't hear the loud crash of glass, the louder, colorful cursing of the man, and the eventual cursing of Rose when the plastic hand finally came away from her face.

The man pulled out a pen-like device and pressed a button on the side, causing the tip of it to glow a bright blue and emit a low buzzing noise. The plastic arm twitched as the buzzing noise increased in volume. The man looked at it with a tilt of his head, releasing the button on his device. The arm recovered and started to thrash at him, still trying to reach his neck and choke him. He pressed the button on the side again and pressed the blue tip to the plastic palm of the hand. It struggled weakly before it stopped moving, the plastic becoming subdued.

"There we go. See? Perfectly harmless," he flashed her a charming smile. She snatched the arm out of his hands and smacked him upside the head with it.

"Oh yeah, perftectly harmess!"

The man rubbed the back of his head where he had been smacked before holding out his hand.

"May I have the arm back?"

"No! You may not!" Rose scoffed standing up and clutching the arm close to her body. The man stood up after her, brushing his coat off. His eyes suddenly widened.

"Rose, don't turn around,"

Naturally, she turned around. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she turned back to the man. He smiled and held up the plastic arm. She blinked and noticed that her hands were empty.

"Thank you Ms Tyler!" he said, turning and leaving the small flat. Rose followed him, quickly shouting at the general direction of her mother that she was going for a walk. She followed the man down the outside stairs. He was already halfway down the stairs by the time she caught up to him.

"'Ang on a minute! You can't just go swanning off!" she shouted at him. The man scoffed.

"Yes I can. Here I am, this is me swanning off," he waved at he. "Goodbye!"

"That arm was moving!" Rose pointed at the plastic arm in his hands. "It tried to kill me!"

"Very observational. Well done!"

Rose growled inwardly. This man was starting to get on her nerves, good-looking or not!

"You can't just walk away, it's not fair! You have to tell me what's going on!!"

"No I don't," the man laughed. They reached the door leading outside. The man pushed it open and hopped outside, Rose still following him. It was a nice morning, the sun was shining brightly as Rose stalked the man closely.

"Wait a second! Who are you?" she caught up to him as they reached the neighboring playground.

"I told you last night. I'm the Doctor," he answered. Rose nodded.

"Alright. Doctor what?"

"Just the Doctor,"

"'The Doctor?'"

"Yes?"

Rose started laughing to herself. The Doctor stopped and looked at her.

"And what, may I ask, is so funny Rose?"

"Do you know how daft that sounds? 'The Doctor.' Is that supposed to sound impressive?"

"If only you knew how impressive it really is..." he sighed as he began walking again. Rose began following him again. She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on! You can tell me, I've seen enough. Are you the police?" The man gently pushed her hand off as he chuckled.

"Nope. I was just passing through to pick up some jelly babies when I noticed trouble and, with me being me, decided to look into it,"

"But why are those plastic things after me? What have I done wrong?" Rose asked, frowning when the Doctor began to laugh out loud. His green eyes were sparkling when he looked at her.

"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you? You simply got in the way. Last night in the shop, I was looking for the relay when you walked in and nearly got yourself killed (good job by the way.) This morning, I was tracking it down and vice versa. The only reason it went after you was because it met me."

"And suddenly the entire world revolves around you?"

"In a way," the Doctor smiled.

"You're full of it!" Rose laughed.

"In a way,"

"So who else knows about this plastic stuff?" Rose asked. The Doctor tilted his head.

"Including us?" he asked. Rose nodded.

"Us. Although some friends I used to work for have run into this problem a couple times before, but they think they finished it last time, so I won't count on their help. And out of the two of us, I'm the one who actually knows what's going on, so in actuality, I'm the _only _one,"

"Just you?" Rose asked. The Doctor nodded. "So, you're on your own?"

"Well who else is there? Your people are content to watch your lives crawl past your eyes as long as you're safe, while all around you there's wars being fought!"

Rose reached over and took the platic arm out of the Doctor's hands. She pushed her hair behind her ears and stopped.

"Alright. So start from the begining," Rose said. The Doctor gave a sigh and looked around. They were in a large green park, trees dotted the vast lawn. The Doctor walked over and sat down on a nearby bench. He patted the space next to him in an initation for Rose to sit. She raised an eyebrow and sat down next to him.

"Alright. If we're going with living plastic (and I don't really belive _that_,) how'd you kill it?" Rose asked, keeping the plastic arm out of his reach.

"There was a signal projecting life into the arm. I cut off the signal and it, in a way, died," he explained. Rose nodded slowly.

"So...radio control?"

"Thought control," he corrected. He tilted his head as he noticed the look on Rose's face. "You alright?"

"Yeah...So, who's controlling it?"

"It's not really 'who's' controlling it, it's more like 'what' is. And that my dear is too long a story for me to tell you," he sighed, standing up and begining to walk away again, this time more slowly. Rose nodded as she followed him.

"Alright, what's it for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britan's shops?" she asked. The Doctor laughed.

"It's not a price war my dear. They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you," There was somewhat of an awkward silence as they walked on. The Doctor looked at Rose sideways. "Do you believe me?"

"No," Rose scoffed.

"But you're still listening to me," he pointed out with a smile.

"Just because I'm still listening to you talk rubbish doesn't mean I believe anything," Rose countered.

"Hm, touche Ms. Tyler!" the Doctor laughed as he took the plastic arm from Rose and began to cross the street. Rose stayed where she was.

"Who are you Doctor? Really?"

The Doctor stopped halfway across the street, before turning around and walking back to her with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Do you rebember earlier, the earth turning?" Rose nodded. "It's like when you're a child, the first time they tell you that the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. Well, I can feel it-" the Doctor took Rose's hand. His sea green eyes seemed to be staring at nothing, getting a clouded over look in them. "the turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around the Sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and I, and if we let go..." He dropped Rose's hand, and his eyes focused. There was actually a small enigmatic and dark glint in them.

"That is who I am Rose Tyler," he waved the plastic arm back and forth like it was waving at her. "Do yourself a favor. Forget me and go home before you get hurt."

And with that, he turned and left Rose standing in the street. He seemed to be heading towards a blue police box. Rose watched him walk off for a bit before turning and starting to walk off herself. A loud, grinding engine sound reached her ears, and it seemed to be coming from the Doctor's direction. She turned around and looked around for the source of the sound, but it faded from her range of hearing before she could properly look. She did notice, however, that the blue box the Doctor was heading towards had disappeared.

She turned around again, and began to walk home alone...


	3. When Plastic Attacks

* * *

Here's chapter 3! It was originally going to be the rest of the episode, but I decided to cut it in half. Not much else to say...OH! I bought two Classic!Who DVDs at Borders (55.74 for two episodes. How Effed up is that?!) I bought "The Mark of the Rani" and "Timeflight." I have to say, the Sixth Doctor is moving up on my list of favorite Doctors...

**Disclaimer:** ...No. I don't own Doctor Who. Just the two DVDs I mentioned (and the Series one box-set 104.25)

* * *

The Doctor sighed, easing the TARDIS into the vortex before moving to the edge of the room. He stood there quietly for a moment, not quite sure what to do.He stuck his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he looked around his ship. What to do while the TARDIS was tracking the signal from the plastic arm?

He sighed again, walking over to the large bookshelf that occupied the length of one full wall. He plucked a random book from a random shelf and dusted the thin coating of dust from it's worn cover. He raised an eyebrow as he read the spine of the book.

_'The Time Machine' HG Wells_

He put the book back on the shelf after little consideration. The last two times he had tried to read the book, bad things had happened. The first time, the Master had come back to life and tried to (once again) steal his remaining regenerations. The Doctor had stepped outside the TARDIS and had gotten shot by random young humans involved in a gang war. His regeneration had almost failed as well, due to the anesthesia that he had been given by Dr. Grace while she had been doing exploratory heart surgery. The _second _time (almost twenty minutes after the whole Master ordeal was sorted out in San Fransisco) he tried to read it again, but was forcefully pulled from the vortex due to being summoned to fight in the impending war on Gallifrey.

He almost swore that the book was utter bad luck to be on board the TARDIS. He vaguely considered throwing it out of the doors and into the vortex, but dismissed the thought. Instead, he walked over to another part of the wall and pulled a different book out, replacing the previous book as he did.

"Harry Potter," he said with a smile and heading over to his chair. "Just the thing to pass the time."

He flipped the heavy book open to a random page in the middle of the book and began reading. Well, he tried to read. His thoughts kept wandering back to that little blonde human he had repeatedly ran into within the past two days. There had been a little twinkle in her eye that night in the basement that had caught his attention, a little sparkle that had perked his interest. Then, just this morning, she didn't "freak out" as young humans put it. Yes, she slightly shaken when the arm had attached itself to her face, but she had then followed him around and demanded answers! A nineteen year old human from 21st century Earth had demanded answers from a 983 year old Time Lord! And he had _given _them to her! Was he getting old?

He snapped the book shut on that thought. Sure, he was as old as dirt in Earth terms, but he was still relatively young in Gallifreyan terms. Not to mention that he was a bit vain in this incarnation.

His thoughts were interrupted by a frantic beeping coming from the control console. He flung the book down and threw himself at the controls, scanning all of the screens to see what was going on. He cursed loudly.

"The signal's fading!" he shouted to himself, adding to the noise of the room just to hear himself talk. The beeping faded, and he stood there with one hand on a switch and the other raised with a firm grip on his mallet.

"You've lost the signal?" he asked unbelievably. A single Gallifreyan symbol scrolled across the closest screen. The Doctor's eyebrows flew up into his hairline as he scoffed.

"That's it? That's all you're going to tell me? 'Yes?'"

An identical word scrolled across the screen again. The Doctor gave a frustrated sigh and kicked the control stand. This, of coarse, did nothing to help him. The kick only resulted in a shower of angry sparks and an injured toe. He dropped the mallet next to a half-eaten candy bar. He shrugged and picked the candy bar up, munching on the end.

A fleeting thought passed through the back of his mind and he shrugged again. No harm in seeing, right? He typed in the coordinates quickly and took a step back as the tracking system went to work, nibbling on the chocolate bar. He shouldn't have been eating the chocolate, due to the fact he could get very hyper in this body with the sugar running through his system, but he didn't care. Once the tracking was done he hacked into the CCTV and let out a loud disbelieving laugh at what he saw.

"Honestly, how much trouble can one human get into in _one _day? First the arm, and now a _full fledged body double_?"

* * *

Rose sat in the small pizza restaurant across from Mickey, thinking out loud at where she could apply for jobs next. Her trip to (Crazy)Clive's house for information about the Doctor had been a little bit short of helpful. The man was a conspiracy freak! All he had were clearly doctored photos of the Doctor at various places in time and various places around the Earth. Not nearly enough information to help her figure out who the handsome, mysterious man was...

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. It was no use thinking about him now. He was probably long gone. She instead returned her thoughts to finding a new job. There was always the hospital. She dropped out of school before she could finish her A-levels, but she could always be a cleaning lady. Or maybe a dinner lady. She snorted at that. She hated the way they uniforms looked, and she was sure that they were as uncomfortable as could be.

She shook her head, glancing at Mickey quickly. He hadn't said anything since they had left Clive's house, and he'd been wearing the strangest smile on his face. She was torn between being quietly creeped out and asking him if he had gas. She cleared her throat.

"So...what do you think Mick?" she asked instead, leaning forward slightly. Mickey tilted his head slightly, his smile still plastered on his face.

"What did you say you knew about this Doctor?" he asked back. Rose raised an eyebrow and sat back in her chair, an annoyed look on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was I talking to myself?"

"I reckon all this started last night in the shop, am I right bab-suga-sug-su-sweetheart?" The last part of his sentence sounded like a skipping record. Rose furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"What're you talking like that for?" she asked. Mickey leaned forward and took her hands in his. She shuddered at the feel of his cold skin. A man walked over to their table and held out a bottle of champagne.

"Champagne for the lovely couple?" he asked.

"Not ours." Mickey said, not breaking eye contact with Rose as his smile faded. The man walked over to Rose.

"How about for the nice lady?"

"We didn't order any. Mickey are you alright? Your hands are freezing cold."

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?"

Mickey growled as he glared at the man.

"_Look_. We didn't order any..." he stopped mid sentence as he noticed who he was talking to. Rose saw the look of triumph on his face and turned to see the Doctor holding the bottle of champagne with a smile on his face. Rose blinked at him, her mouth falling open in disbelief.

"Don't mind me," he said lightly, shaking the bottle rapidly. "I'm just toasting the happy couple," he aimed the opening of the bottle at Mickey's head. "On the house!"

The cork flew straight into Mickey's head. Literally, _into _his head. Rose stared at him as his jaws began to work up and down before spitting the cork at the Doctor. The Doctor looked down at he cork that had settled on the top of his shoe. "Mickey" stood up, his face glowing in triumph.

"Finally." he breathed. He raised his hands and they seemed to melt and reform before the Doctor and Rose's very eyes. They transformed into ax-like weapons, and "Mickey" started swinging them at the Doctor, who jumped back quickly as the hands shattered the table Rose was sitting at. She yelped and lept over to the wall.

The Doctor ducked and weaved, dodging the imposter's with ease and amusement. A smile grew on his face as he suddenly jumped forward and grabbed "Mickey's" head in his hands, tugging repeatedly. The head came off rather quickly, sending the Doctor flying back into a table. The head grinned as it's body flailed about, destroying the furniture in the restaurant. The other people in the room simply sat there, watching in fascination at what was happening.

Rose looked back and forth between the headless "Mickey" still flailing about to the Doctor struggling with the head that was trying to bite him. She walked over to the wall and smashed in the fire alarm, finally getting everybody else in the restaurant to panic and run out.

The Doctor got a better grip on the head and began making his way through the rubble towards the back. Rose threw a chair at the body and ran after the Doctor. He calmly walked down a long hallway to the back, stepped outside and waited for Rose to catch up. The second she was out she slammed the door, backing up to let the Doctor lock it with the sonic screwdriver. Rose ran to the end of the alleyway and pulled at the gate that lead out to the city. She yanked at the chains holding the doors shut as the Doctor calmly sauntered over to the blue box Rose had seen earlier that day.

"I'll tell you what, let's go in here!" he nodded towards the the box as the metal door holding "Mickey" back was denting under the force of it's pounding fists. Rose stared at him as he unlocked the doors of his box. She ran over to the front of the box as he was closing the doors behind him.

"You're hiding in a wooden box?! The_ metal door _is barely holding it back!" she shouted. The said metal door screeched loudly as the arm of the impostor tore through it like it was paper. Rose watched as the hole in the door began to grow for a second before running into the box.

"Doc-!" she froze when she noticed the inside. She was shaking as she quickly backed out of the box to look at the outside. She walked around it slowly, to make absolutely sure it wasn't connected to anything. A crash came from behind her as a large section of the metal door fell onto the ground. She glanced at it before running back inside the box.

"Don't worry. The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through those doors, and, believe me, they tried desperately," the Doctor called from his position in the middle of the room. Rose slowly walked towards him, head turning every which way to take in the sight before her. The Doctor turned around and noticed her wide eyes. He smiled and put his hands in his pockets.

"Right. Where would you like me to start?"


	4. It's Bigger on the Inside

Here's the fourth chapter! The chapter was actually twice as long, so I cut it in half. And I was thinking on what I wanted the Eighth Doctor's "catchphrase" to be, since I've only seen the movie he was in. I didn't want him to say "Fantastic!", so I stuck him with "Brilliant!" Didn't want to, but I couldn't think of anything else. It might change later along the lines, I don't really know...Until then, here you go!

**Disclaimer**:...nope. Nothing. Just a crazy fangirl in the "Sunshine" State. What a load of crap. Whoever called it that hasn't obviously lived here very long. The most amount of sunlight we've had this _year _was only about three hours long...

* * *

Rose looked pointedly around the cavernous room, what with it's Gothic, or possibly Victorian, appearance and the lighting bathing the dark wooden interior in a soft golden glow. One entire wall was covered in books, a small living room set situated next to it with an armchair and side table. The wall opposite was covered in various sized drawers, seemingly made of a dark wood. The high ceiling was supported with metal grated columns with what looked like small bits and pieces of coral living on it. The Doctor waited patiently for her to point it out from his position at the control console.

"It's...bigger on the inside," she said. The Doctor nodded.

"Yes it is,"

"It's alien," Rose ventured further. The Doctor nodded again.

"Yes it is,"

"Are you alien?" Rose asked him, intending it as a joke. Once again, the Doctor nodded.

"Yes I am. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm half-human. On my mother's side." he added. Rose stared at him with wide eyes.

"Are...are you serious?"

"No. Thank Rassilon for that. Can't imagine anything worse than being part human. I'm a Time Lord."

Rose took a step closer to the center of the room, keeping one eye on the Doctor while taking another look at the large room. She noticed a large regal looking staircase at the back of the room, a large symbol resembling infinity etched above it.

"This place is called a TARDIS. T.A.R.D.I.S. Stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space," the Doctor suddenly explained. Rose swallowed a growing lump in her throat.

"Did they kill him?" she asked the Doctor. He blinked owlishly at her. "Mickey. The man I was with. Did they kill him?"

"I...don't know. Didn't think about it." Rose stared at him unbelievably.

"He's my boyfriend! You pulled his head off and you didn't even think about it? And now you're just gonna let him melt?!"

"Melt?" the Doctor turned around, just in time to see the plastic head smile before melting inwards and into the controls. He exclaimed, starting to run around the console while pressing buttons and various levers.

"Nononononononono, not again! Come on old girl, you can do it!" he shouted as the central rotor began working up and down, a loud grinding and wheezing sound vibrating throughout the room. The room shuddered, send a few stray books to the ground, and sending Rose stumbling backwards. The shaking suddenly stopped, causing the Doctor to growl and bound out of the room. Rose followed him, shouting the entire way.

"You can't go back outside! It's not safe! You're gonna get yourself killed!" she stepped outside and stopped. The Doctor was standing a few feet away from Rose, seething quietly.

"So close...I was so close, then I lost the signal! Again!"

"We've moved!" Rose said looking around with wide eyes. When they had earlier been in downtown London, the were now at the edge of the river Thames. How could that have happened? Was the strange box a spaceship of some kind? She looked at the Doctor who was still fuming to himself.

"Did it fly?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"Disappeared there and reappeared here. Long and complicated," he muttered, walking past her to stand on the other side of the TARDIS. Rose stood there, a thought suddenly occurring to her.

"I'm going to have to tell his mum," she said slowly. The Doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a confused look on his face. "Mickey. He's dead and you've just and forgotten about him!

"You're right. You are alien," she started to turn away when the Doctor answered.

"If I did forget some kid call Mickey..."

"He's not a kid!" Rose growled as she turned back to face the Doctor.

"It's because I'm trying very hard to save the lives of every one of these little apes mucking about on the face of the Earth, all right?!" the Doctor shouted at her, trying to make her understand that he couldn't worry about one human while the other 6 billion or so were in danger. Rose just stood there and shook her head.

"If you're an alien, how come you sound like you're from Liverpool?" she asked, still not too sure he was an alien. Sure, he had a spaceship that was bigger on the inside than the outside, but he could've just been a genius with too much spare time. The Doctor turned around and stared at her, mouth open slightly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me. If you are an alien, why do you sound like you are from Liverpool?"

"I can't believe you humans! Somewhere near here is a malevolent being made of plastic intent of animating every little speck of normal plastic to wipe out the entire human race and you're asking me why I have a certain accent?!"

"Sorry I asked!" Rose snapped at him. She watched the Doctor put his forehead against the side of his TARDIS. Rose cleared her throat.

"What's a police public call box?" she asked him. She might as well learn what she could for the heck of it. This was a once in a lifetime thing, _if _he really was an alien. The Doctor turned his head towards her, lingering annoyance slowly being replaced by amusement. She was taking the entire matter rather well compared to other people he had met in his travels. That and she seemed to have a short attention span, switching from one mood to another. _Women_, he mentally sighed. He straightened up and placed a hand on the side of the TARDIS.

"It's a police box from the 1950's. The TARDIS is supposed to be able to disguise itself wherever it lands, but the circuit responsible for it got stuck. It's been like this for so long, I've grown quite fond of it."

"Alright. Spaceship that's bigger on the inside, living plastic that wants to take over the world, and I'm talking to an alien from who-knows-where. What's the plastic got against humans?" Rose asked. The Doctor smiled and walked a bit closer to her.

"Nothing. It loves the human race and this little planet. All of your toxins and dioxins in the air, all the oil and different minerals in the ground, they love your planet,"

"But _why _are they here?"

"Their feeding planet was lost in the War, and they've been here before, so Earth equals dinner. Simple as that." the Doctor answered. Rose felt that it wasn't that simple, and that there might've been something he wasn't telling her, but she didn't bring it up. Instead, she cleared her throat and asked another question.

"Do you have some sorta miraculous plan to boot them off the planet?"

"Not really, no." he shrugged. Rose raised an eyebrow. _Obviously not too much of a genius,_ she thought. "I'm going to talk to the Consciousness and hopefully get him to leave peacefully."

"How much of a chance do you give that actually working?"

"Not very much. If it doesn't, I'm afraid I'll have to use this," he pulled out a glass tube filled with a blue liquid from inside his jacket. "AntiPlastic. Completely disintegrates the molecular structure of the plastic. Now to the main problem I face,"

"Which would be?" Rose asked as the Doctor walked a short way away and looked around.

"Finding it. If I could locate the transmitter, the Nestene would be right underneath. It needs a boost for it's signal so it can control every bit of plastic. How could you hide something that large in a city this small?"

London? Small? What was his comparison? She cleared her throat.

"What does it look like?"

"What does what look like?"

"The transmitter,"

"Like a transmitter. Large, round, somewhere very near here. Somewhere right in the middle of London," he described, walking behind the TARDIS and leaning his back against the railing preventing his from falling into the river. Rose raised an eyebrow. Right behind the Doctor, on the other side of the Thames was the London Eye. It was big, round, and almost in the middle of London. She suppressed a laugh. The London Eye was a transmitter for a plastic alien? The Doctor noticed Rose staring at something behind him. He turned around and looked, then turned back to Rose.

"What are you looking at?" he asked. _God he's thick!_ she thought. She pointed to the Eye. He turned around again, turning back towards Rose with a large grin on his face.

"Brilliant!"


	5. The Nestene Consciousness

Chapter 5! YaY! Not much else to say...I'm on a writer's block for Third Time's the Charm. I've no clue how what to do. I've got a vague idea, but that's it. I've started typing "The Christmas Invasion v2" and boy is it tense. Tense and frought with angst! ((Chibi!Eight: Oh joy...))

**Disclaimer:** Nope. Still a no-go.

* * *

The Doctor wasn't too sure what he was doing. Well, he knew _what _he was doing, he just wasn't sure about _why _he was doing it. After what had happened with Grace in San Fransisco, he had promised himself that he wouldn't let himself get close to another human in fear that they could pay with their life, as Grace and Chang had. But here he was, running across a bridge while holding hands with a young girl to try and find a deadly alien with the power to animate any piece of plastic. A little voice in the back of his mind told him not to get too attached, told him that in the end she would be gone just like all the others. It sounded oddly like his Fourth self. For a brief moment he wondered why that was, but the girl beside him was talking to him.

"You are absolutely mad!" she laughed as they turned off the bridge. The Doctor grinned.

"Story of my life, my friend!" he laughed as they stopped underneath the London Eye and looked around. "All the plastic in the world...Every artificial thing waiting to come alive and take over the Earth. The shop window dummies, the telephones, wires, cables..."

"The breast implants..."

The Doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow and shook his head.

"The things humans come up with...I swear you people are so strange. Anyway. We found the transmitter, so the Consciousness should be underneath here somewhere. Look for an opening, a hatch, something that could lead us underground." the Doctor started peering around at the ground. Rose called to him from a way aways.

"What about down here?" she pointed to a hatch in the ground that was slightly smoking. The Doctor walked over and grinned. He offered her his arm, raising an eyebrow.

"Would you care to accompany me to discuss matters with the Nestene Consciousness?" he said charmingly. Rose smiled and took his arm.

"Why not?"

* * *

Mickey was terrified. He didn't know where he was or how he got there. All he remembered was being pulled (or shoved. He really hoped he was shoved in instead of pulled) into a plastic bin, then he woke up tied to a railing underground. Then there was the fact that below him was a giant vat of glowing, writhing plastic that was growling threats at him. Being kidnapped was one thing, but plastic that was vocally threatening him? That was a bit much for him.

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract of section 15 of the Shadow Proclamation," Mickey jumped and banged his head against the metal railings at the strange sudden voice. He shuddered as the thing in the vat growled something.

"May I approach?"

Another growl, and Mickey whimpered quietly. His curiosity got the better of him and he turned his head slightly to see who was speaking. He couldn't see the man, but he saw someone else running down the metal steps towards him. His heart fluttered as he recognized Rose, and the clear concern on her face. She hugged him and he pointed with a shaky finger to the vat.

"The...the...the thing in there. It talks!" he said, his voice more a whimper than he would've liked it. She turned to look at the man she had come with, relief on his face.

"Doctor, they kept him alive!"

"That was always a possibility. Keep him alive to sustain the DNA replicate longer than original time slotted for it,"

Mickey stared at the man as he went down another level. Who was he? Was he the Doctor that Rose was talking to Clive about? He didn't seem so special.

"You alright?" Rose asked him. He let out a single laugh, which came out as a small squeak. Rose smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, standing to help him stand. It took a minute, due to the fact that his legs were slightly asleep. They walked over (Mickey leaning on Rose while he regained feeling in his legs) to a section of the railing directly behind and above the Doctor. He seemed to be talking to the vat of plastic, the Nestene Consciousness.

"Am I addressing the Nestene Consciousness?" the Doctor said loudly, politely but with a slight edge. The alien inside bubbled lowly.

"Thank you. You have infiltrated this civilization by banned warp-shunt technology. I respectfully ask you to, as these humans say, 'Take a hike.'" he continued, voice still polite but the edge was becoming more pronounced. The Consciousness roared loudly, causing Mickey and Rose to shudder at the venom in it's tone, but the Doctor was unmoved.

"What you are doing is an invasion, as you have tried twice before, simple as that. Do _not _try to convince me that you have constitutional rights to justify this!"

The Consciousness roared again, this time with enough forse to shake the dust from the ceiling high above them. The Doctor glared at the living plastic.

"**I'm not finished**!" the Doctor shouted back. The Consciousness quieted to a low continuous rumble. "Thank you. This planet is still developing, these slow humans have just crawled out of the mud. They are just opening their eyes and seeing there is more than meets the eye. They are capable of so much more than we give them credit for! I am asking you nicely on their behalf. Please leave and find some other uninhabited planet for your food."

Rose stared at him. Was he really an alien? He had such power behind his words, such a presence here. He was incredible the way he stood there and negotiated with the plastic. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move in the shadows. It was a pair of the plastic shop windows dummies!

"Doctor!" she yelled to warn him. He turned around just in time to be grabbed by one of them. It pulled his arms around his back while the other searched through his pockets. The Consciousness roared as the Auton pulled out the vial of AntiPlastic. The Doctor's eyes widened as the Nestene threw out accusations at him.

"Nononono, I wasn't going to use it! It was just insurance!" he shouted, a small note of panic working it's way into his voice. The Nestene Consciousness roared once more, and the Doctor winced.

"I wasn't here to attack! I'm here to _help _you!" he pleaded. "I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm _not_."

The Nestene growled wildly, and the Doctor's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What?"

A door behind Rose and Mickey slid open, a light flashing within before fading away to reveal the TARDIS. The Doctor's hearts sank. Things had just gone from bad to worse. The Nestene rumbled lowly.

"Yes. That is my ship,"

The rumbling raised into an accusing roar. The Doctor glared at the living plastic.

"That's not true!" he yelled. "I should know, I was there! I fought in the War, I _ended _it! I couldn't save your world, I couldn't save any of them!" His pain was evident in the last sentence, even Rose could hear it. When she asked him if he was all alone, now she knew he really was. That War must've been something if he was the only survivor. She saw the Nestene start to thrash about in it's vat, it's shrieks echoing in the underground cavern.

"What's happening Doctor?" she asked, wondering if there was anything she could do to help. The Doctor struggled with the Auton holding him.

"The Nestene has identified the TARDIS as superior technology, and now it's moving it's plan to the next stage. It's starting the invasion!"

_And for the second time in my life, I can do nothing as it happens..._


	6. Eight Little Words

Sorry it took so long to update. It's been a bugger, because for the longest time I didn't know how to write it. That, and I've been fairly busy(lazy) and haven't had much time to do much.I'm also sorry for the fairly short length of this compared to the other chapters. I've been writing the New Earth v2 for this story, so I've been distracted.

**Disclaimer:** Nope. Not yet, but I'ma plottin. _Enjoy!_

* * *

Rose stood in front of the TARDIS doors as static electricity filled the cavern, causing the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Large pulses of what looked like blue lightning came up from the Nestene Consciousness, traveling straight up and into the London Eye. She gasped as she remembered her mother, and knowing her, she was probably out there in the streets surrounded unknowingly by those plastic dummies. She pulled out her mobile, which was difficult with Mickey clinging to her for dear life, and quickly dialed her mother's number. After two rings, she answered.

"Rose? I just checked with the police station; you can get compensation. When you get home you're gonna sign the documents..."

"Mum! Listen to me, I need you to go home and stay there! Get off the streets, it's not safe!" Rose shouted. She could barely hear her mother over the static on the phone, but she caught the words "late" and "shopping" before she hung up. She growled as she shoved the phone back in her pocket.

The Doctor struggled fiercely with the Auton that was keeping him restrained. The other one was holding the AntiPlastic just out of reach, as if it was taunting him. He glanced at Rose and her friend, the former standing and looking around for something (most likely a safe escape route, he thought,) and the latter sitting with his knees up to his chest and arms over his head to make himself look as small as he could. He dismissed any help from them, and focused on trying to get free.

* * *

Jackie smiled as she walked into the shopping center, placing her phone in her pocket. She would have to see about getting Rose a better phone, that static was positively awful. She could barely hear her daughter's voice over it! She shrugged and put it out of her mind, stepping onto the escalator down. Where to go first? She didn't have a lot of money, so she would search though the cheapest shops first...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crashing glass and screams. She looked around with wide eyes as the plastic mannequins forced their way out of the glass displays for every shop and began shooting various random people. It took her a moment to realize that there were a small group of them right next to her. So she did the first thing that came to her mind. She screamed and ran.

* * *

Rose peered around at the level she was on, trying to see anything possible that she could do to help. She winced as the Nestene Consciousness roared again, but instead of hearing incoherent noise, she could make out two words.

"_**TIME LORD**_!"

She gazed quickly over her surroundings, panic working itself into her veins. Her eyes settled on a length of chain hanging from the ceiling. She looked quickly at the mannequin holding the AntiPlastic, a plan unfolding in her head.

Rose pried Mickey off of her leg and ran over to the chain, picking up an ax to knock it's connection off the wall. She grasped the now loose chain and yanked on it, making sure it was strong enough to hold her weight.

"Bronze in gymnastics...you can do this Rose," she mumbled to herself.

The Doctor continued struggling, but the Auton remained firm. He could almost feel his left arm loosening in the slightest bit, but it may have been just his imagination. Why did he feel so weak? In the past, he would have been free in less than a minute, never for this long! Also, he would have heard the Auton approaching him from behind, but the girl had to shout to him and by that time it was too late! Why? Was it because the Nestene had accused him for the loss of it's planet in the War?

The Doctor saw something move out of the corner of his eye and blinked in astonishment. Rose was standing on the railing, chain in her hands and a determined look on her face. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as she jumped and swung over to him and his captor. The Auton loosened his grip the slighted bit, and the Doctor whipped out his arm and grabbed the Auton, a sudden surge of strength letting him flip the plastic mannequin over his shoulder into the the Nestene Consciousness. Rose threw out her leg and sent the vial of AntiPlastic flying into the vat. The cork popped open on contact and the effect was almost instant. The liquid seeped into the Nestene, causing it to scream in pain as it disintegrated.

The Doctor caught Rose as she swung back and set her on the ground. With a mad grin on his face he looked at the Nestene, then at Rose.

"Now we're in trouble!" he said as the ceiling started to fall to the ground, dust clouding their vision. They ran to the TARDIS, pried Mickey from it's face, and clambered inside.

* * *

Jackie peered from behind her fingers at the plastic dummies dressed as brides that had cornered her against an overturned car. She frowned in confusion as they started twitching erratically, eventually slumping over onto the ground. She stared at them as she slowly stood up, not entirely sure what had just happened. She hesitantly nudged one with her shoe as the police showed up. She nearly jumped out of her skin as her phone rang. She scrabbled at her pocket and pulled it out. She recognized her daughter's number and answered it.

"Rose! Don't go out! It's not safe! There were these things! And they were Shooting! And..." There was a beep and Jackie pulled the phone away from her ear. She put it back to her ear. "Rose?" she strained to hear over the sirens for an answer, but heard nothing. She shoved the phone back in her pocket and hurried home.

* * *

Rose put her phone back in her pocket and turned to face the Doctor, standing in the doorway of his box. He had a small smile on his face as he watched her, debating on what to say. What could he say? She was impressive. She was smart. She was brave. And the TARDIS liked her. He could tell by the way the lights had brightened when she entered through the doors.

He noticed that she was staring at him. He felt a bit uneasy under her gaze for some odd reason. _Say something! Anything!_ he thought.

"Nestene Consciousness, easy," he grinned as he snapped his fingers to demonstrate how easy dealing with it had been. Rose scoffed.

"Yeah right. You would've been dead if it weren't for me!"

"Yes. I would have. Thank you," he said, his smile fading a fraction of an inch. He cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together, "Right! Well, I'll be off. Unless...I dunno," he shrugged, still watching her. "You could come with me."

Rose's eyes widened slightly. Come with him?

"This isn't just a London hopper, you know," the Doctor continued, patting the door of the TARDIS. "IT can go anywhere in the universe. Free of charge!" he added with a small laugh. Mickey crawled over to Rose from behind a cardboard box, clinging to her leg.

"Don't! He's an alien! He...He's a thing!" he said, voice shaking. He was having a rough night. Being kidnapped by a living plastic bin, threatened by a vat of plastic and being shoved into a box that was bigger on the inside than the out could do that to a bloke. The Doctor regarded him coolly.

"He's not invited on the fact he called me a 'thing'. What do you think?" he asked. "You could stay here, fill your life with work and sleep and telly, or you could go...anywhere." he continued. Rose swallowed, thinking about the day she just had.

"Is it always this dangerous?" she asked him. The Doctor's smile faded even further, debating on whether or not to tell the truth.

"Yes," he said. He wasn't one to spare the truth very often. "But that's what makes it fun!" he added.

"Yeah...I can't. I've got to go home and find my mum and...someone's gotta look after this stupid lump." she said the words as they came to her, the feeble excuses that she tried to convince herself with. The Doctor's smile finally vanished, his hearts falling.

"Alright. That's that then. Goodbye, Rose Tyler." he said quietly. He stepped back a bit and closed the door as Rose stared. As the light on top of the TARDIS began to flash, she regretted refusing his offer. The blue box faded out of sight, the grating noise echoing as the box vanished. She frowned, knowing she would probably never see him again. She gave a look at Mickey, his mouth hanging open at what he just saw. The poor man would be needing therapy.

Rose pulled him to his feet and put her arm around his shoulders, leading him down the alleyway home. She halted in her tracks as a loud noise faded into her hearing. She whirled around to see the TARDIS appearing. The door opened and the Doctor peeked his head out, face blank but eyes sparkling.

"Did I mention it also travels in _time_?" he asked, a grin creeping onto his face as he disappeared from the doorway and leaving the door cracked open. Rose smiled, knowing this would be her last chance to go with him. She turned to Mickey and gave him a quick kiss.

"Thanks," she said. He blinked owlishly at her, face bewildered.

"What for?"

"Exactly." she gave him another kiss before turning and running towards the TARDIS, towards the adventure of a lifetime.


	7. Confirmation

_-Chibi!Pheonix walks in-_ ...Yeah. The Captain's running around her house, squeeing her head off like the psychotic caffeinated fan-girl she is. Apparently, she just found out that Donna and Simm!Master are due to return in the "special" episodes next year. Jenny's also coming back, Ace is rumored to, and one of her DVDs came in the mail today. She's feeling pretty good at the moment. I guess I better tell you that Captain Rika doesn't own Doctor Who.

...Aaand she just ran into a wall covered in wet paint. -snicker-

* * *

The Doctor grinned from his position next to the controls, happy that Rose had decided to come. Not happy. Elated. Ecstatic. Giddy...well, maybe not giddy. He hadn't been giddy since...had he ever been giddy? He shook the thought away and turned back to her. But he was happy. He surprised himself when he decided to come back and ask again. How many times had he done that? ...Once. For the young woman in front of him. His earlier thought about him getting old returned again, and the voice in at the back of his head (still sounding like his Fourth self) started tutting.

Rose grinned back at the Doctor as she walked over to the console, taking a better look around the large room. An earlier thought returned to Rose as the Doctor began flicking switches and pressing buttons, bouncing around the controls with a smile so wide it was threatening to break his face in two. Was he really an alien? Was this really a spaceship that traveled in time? It traveled, that was fairly obvious, but in time? And what about him? He seemed human enough, a little on the eccentric side maybe, but alien?

"You're staring," he suddenly said, pulling a switch upwards as the room gave a slight shudder. Rose leaned against the nearest pillar, grabbing it to keep herself standing.

"What?" she asked, not quite hearing what he had said. The Doctor walked a little closer and leaned in close to her ear.

"I said, 'You're staring'," he repeated softly before turning his attention back towards the various controls. Rose bit her lip, thinking about what she would say.

"When you say alien," she started, not really believing that she was about to ask him this, "How alien are you? You seem normal to me." The Doctor laughed loudly, the lights in the room brightening as his laughter echoed in the room.

"Normal? Me? That's the first time in my _life _that I've heard that!"

"I mean _human_. You look human to me," she said as the Doctor continued laughing. He stopped after a moment and shrugged.

"I just look human on the outside," he said to her, casually typing in coordinates into the main controls. Rose raised an eyebrow.

"So...you're alien on the inside?"

"Yep. Two hearts, the works," he said airily, as if he were commenting on the weather. Rose simply stared at him.

"Two hearts? Yeah right," she scoffed once she found her voice. His eyebrows knitted together.

"I do!" he insisted. Rose blinked at him.

"Is this another 'I'm half human' thing?" she asked. The Doctor shook his head, slowly walking over to stand before her. His hearts began pounding in his chest. Why were they doing that? Was he nervous of her reaction? If so, why? He opened his mouth to say something, but the words died on his tongue as his mouth refused to cooperate with him. He simply sighed softly as he took her hand and placed it on the left side of his chest. He slid her hand across to the right side, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as her eyes widened.

He let go of her hand and it fell to her side, watching her as he anxiously awaited her reaction. Once again, he wondered why he was feeling the way he was. Was it because he had been alone since the War? He'd never really been able to stand loneliness, so was this the result of being alone for so long and then meeting someone? ...He could hear one of his older incarnations tutting at his behavior.

Rose felt the blood rush to her head, actually taking in what she had felt beneath her fingers. She could still feel the second heart beating away like a samba underneath her fingertips as if it were still there. He really as an alien. A real, proper alien. And he was staring at her. _Say something! Anything!_, her mind yelled at her.

"Your hands are cold."

The Doctor laughed and patted Rose on the shoulder, once again elated that she was taking everything in stride. He turned and stood next to the controls, another grin breaking onto his face. Should he choose where to take her first, or should he let her decide? He decided to let her choose.

"Right Miss Tyler, first trip in time! Where would you like to go? Backwards or forwards?" he asked, fingers poised over the controls, ready and itching to type some coordinates in. Rose shrugged.

"Forwards," she answered. The Doctor pressed a few buttons, his green eyes twinkling. He glanced at her.

"How far?" Another shrug.

"One hundred years," she answered. One hundred was a nice round number, she figured. A nice round number for time-traveling. The Doctor pulled a lever and turned a knob, his smile fading a bit. The engines lurched into action, stopping after a few seconds of grinding.

"There you go, step outside those doors and it's the twenty-second century," he sighed, as if he had been there boundless times before. Rose blinked at him. That quick?

"You're kidding." she stated plainly. The Doctor shrugged, scratching his nose thoughtfully.

"It's really a bit boring. Would you like to go further?" he asked with a smile. Rose shrugged.

"Fine by me!"

More button pressing, and, once again, the engines grinded to life and then quieted. The Doctor jerked his head towards the door.

"Ten thousand years in the future. New Roman Empire. How about that?"

"You think you're so impressive," Rose said, her tongue poking between her teeth as she teased her new friend. The Doctor frowned.

"I am so impressive!" he said, affronted. Rose laughed, egging him on.

"You wish!" The Doctor pursed his lips and stomped his foot at her.

"Right!" he sniffed. "You asked for it!"

He jumped around the controls, pressing buttons and flicking a dozen switches. The engines moaned to life again, throwing the pair of them around a bit before stopping. The Doctor smirked. The TARDIS obviously didn't like the rapid takeoffs, and was telling them so. Rose pulled herself to her feet, looking around the still room.

"Where are we?" she asked, glancing at the doors. The Doctor waved his arm at the doors. Rose smiled excitedly.

"What's out there?" He gestured at the doors again. Rose slowly walked towards the doors, turning to look at the smiling Doctor, and then walked outside.


	8. Welcome to the Future Rose Tyler

((Chibi!Eight falls through the door connecting the Void of Imagination and this site)) -looks around- ...I LIVE!!! YES! I FOUND MY WAY! I MADE IT! -boogies-

...Yeah. He managed to find his way here. I'm so full of cold and cough medicine, it's not funny. I lost my voice today around third period (not like we did anything. We just watched a clip of "Legend" because we're going over medieval drama and stuff. Tim Curry played the Devil, and I couldn't stop snickering to myself because all I saw was him in fishnets and lipstick singing "I'm a sweet transvestite!" ...I'm rambling.)

**Disclaimer: Although she wishes on the first star she sees every bloody night, the Captain does not own Doctor Who.

* * *

**

Rose stepped cautiously outside, eyes wide as she took in the large room she found herself in. The walls were a pale cream color, and the air was filled with a sterile smell, almost like a freshly cleaned waiting room at the doctor's office. It was amazing. She let out a small laugh. She had done it! She had traveled into the future! ...Or had she? She could be in a new hotel building or something...

She shook her head slightly. She believed the Doctor. After all, he was an alien with a box that was bigger on the inside than the out, so why couldn't said box travel in time?

"Having second thoughts?" the Doctor walked out behind her, closing and locking the door behind him. There was a slight edge of concern woven into his voice that he didn't really realize was there. Rose looked at him, a smile on her face.

"Not yet," she said lightly. The Doctor frowned. Why did she say it like that? Would she have doubts later? Would she want to leave? "How about you show me where we are?"

"Can't rightly say right off the top of my head," he said lightly. "I've got to get my bearings." He began walking down the corridor, Rose followed hurriedly.

"Do you have any ideas where we are?"

"The future," he answered simply. Rose raised an eyebrow.

"How far?"

"Don't really know. I have a vague idea, but I want to make sure." he said, stopping suddenly at a seemingly random door, causing Rose to almost run into him. He peered at the keypad next to the door before pulling the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and using it on the pad. The door slid open as he pocketed the device and he stood aside to let Rose in the room first.

The room had the look of a large ballroom, everything a pale mix between gold and cream. It was beautiful, in a simple futuristic type of way. The Doctor moved past Rose and walked over to the far wall, waving her over. He gave her a grin, his eyes sparkling.

"Want to see something neat?" he asked. Rose nodded. The Doctor reached over and pressed a button, causing the wall in front of them to slid up to the ceiling. Rose gasped as she saw inky blackness littered heavily with bright dots of stars. Just outside the window, there were streams of golden, silver and dark red dust. It looked amazing, but that was a bit of an understatement. It was breathtakingly beautiful. She continued staring at the spacial light show before her while the Doctor began talking.

"It's the year 5.5/apple/26. We're about five billion years in your future. How's that for time travel?" he smiled, glancing at her. There was a tiny smile starting to form on her face.

"Where are we?" Rose asked in a whisper. The Doctor peered outside, looking at the multitude of stars dotting the sky. After a few moments, he smiled.

"Right next door to your solar system. If you look over there," he carefully pointed to a fairly large orange dot in the distance. "That's your sun."

"Wow," she whispered. "Never realized how big it was."

The Doctor glanced at her. Should he tell her? How would she take it?

"Yeah...that's because it wasn't that big the last time you saw it," he said. The moment it came out of his mouth, he suddenly felt bad about saying it for some reason. He stared out the window, trying his hardest not to look Rose in the face as she looked at him in confusion. He bit his lip, glancing at her. He forced a smile as she continued to stare at him. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and scratched behind his ear, thinking over the best way to tell her.

"Well, you see..."

"What the hell are you doing here?!" A voice shouted from behind them. The Doctor breathed a silent sigh of relief as he and Rose turned to see who had shouted at them. He felt Rose stiffen by his side as the one who shouted came into view. Rose's eyes widened. It couldn't be...could it?

"Oh my God," Rose whispered, earning a smile from the Doctor at the slight laugh in her voice. He wanted to laugh too, but he didn't think the blue skinned man coming towards them with the angry face would appreiciate it.


End file.
